Referring to FIG. 1, a vehicle 20 is shown with a hood 22 assembled over the engine compartment of the vehicle 20 on a supporting frame. The position of the hood 22 is checked and adjusted to achieve the ideal flushness of the hood 22 relative to the fenders 24 and other surrounding outer body panels. A hood stop 26 permits adjustment of the height of the hood. The hood stop 26 may have a rubber top 28 and a threaded shaft 30. The threaded shaft 30 is assembled to the supporting frame structure of the vehicle 20. The hood stop 26 is rotated to set the hood 22 at a predetermined height. After the hood stop is adjusted, the hood 22 is closed and the height and the height of hood 22 are checked relative to the surrounding outer body panels.
If the hood height is not flush with the surrounding outer body panels, the hood is opened and the height of the hood stop 26 must be readjusted. This process is repeated until the height of the hood 22 is acceptable. In vehicle assembly operations, this procedure for adjusting the height of the hood 22 increases labor costs and assembly time.
The height of the hood stop 26 can be improperly adjusted during a service operation. The height of the hood 22 may need to be readjusted after a front end collision repair.
The above problems and other problems are addressed by this disclosure as summarized below.